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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Circus: Mafia - Over by Christmas
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Eliab
Shipmate
# 9153
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Posted
Battista Lalonde was has been killed in the night.
A thorough search of Batty's Bar reveals not only a stock of the usual contraband, but also some pages torn from General Zurcon's notebooks, and a few rough copy notes made in an obsolete German cipher. In Major Daute's absence, the military authorities are quite content to close the case, and to place the blame for the whole affair on Belgian collaborators. For diplomatic reasons, that side of the story is given little attention, which is a pity, because it means that no consideration is given to the possibility that the incriminating evidence was planted on M. Lalonde, an innocent Allied Civillian.
The surviving suspects are duly exonerated, and recommended for the Military Cross (the George Cross in the case of civilians), for sterling work in opposing enemy agents. The decorations are confirmed, and bestowed in June 1917. In Sgt. Bournemouth's case, the award is posthumous, the veteren NCO having subsequently died in mysterious circumstances, as the last innocent person who could possibly have known any details of General Zurcon's master-piece of strategy.
The conspirators have an unbreakable majority. Any remaining innocents may post death scenes.
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"Perhaps there is poetic beauty in the abstract ideas of justice or fairness, but I doubt if many lawyers are moved by it"
Richard Dawkins
Posts: 4619 | From: Hampton, Middlesex, UK | Registered: Mar 2005
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
Battista looked at his new wristwatch. It was late, very late; and someone was pounding on the bar door.
He had already dealt twice with the authorities today; once by the MP's, who were checking that he was not selling alcohol on Easter Sunday or entertaining a private bar secretly; and then by Major Daute who wanted to check his papers and question him further about the recent murders.
Battista was always troubled whenever he was asked for his papers. Which ones should he produce? There were times when it was distinctly advantageous to have been born on the wrong side of the blanket and on the border of three countries; but lately it had become a bit like playing Russian roulette.
It was of no use explaining that he was a Belgian citizen with one French and one Italian parent, and with a daughter and son-in-law in occupied Luxembourg. He was glad his wife and grandchildren were safe in Switzerland with his wife’s sister. He hoped his brother’s hotel in Germany was doing as well as Batty’s Bar was doing. He had heard many conflicting reports in recent times, and it seemed highly unlikely that everyone in his family would survive. But, with Gallic optimism, he hoped they all would meet again soon. It was imperative that he should make whatever money he could, because some of his family would probably only get out of this with the clothes on their backs – if they were lucky.
“My papers, Major Daute?”
Hmmm. One never ever admitted to the English that one had a French parent. The French authorities however, would be immediately ameliorated by this information. The Belgian constabulary were always sympathetic when they learned his children were unable to leave Luxembourg, and the Germans became amenable business partners once he mentioned his brother and daughter were supporting the war effort in the hospitality industry in both the Fatherland and in occupied territory.
“I am, of course, a Belgian citizen. You know this; for here are the papers to prove it. I hope everything here is to your satisfaction? And please, take this vintage magnum of Veuve Clicquot to your next staff celebration as you go. It is the least I can do for you dedicated officers, non?”
The pounding got louder.
"All right, all right!" shouted Battista, "No need to kick the door in!"
Battista opened the door for the last time just as his Omega ticked over to midnight. The sound of the pistol shot was absorbed by the howling snow flurry outside. A small pool of blood spread in the snow and froze as at dripped down the stairs of the crypt. As Battista's eyes glazed over, he heard the crunching of footsteps in the snow. A single wafer fluttered down into the blood, and somewhere above he could clearly hear Father Didier saying: "He is risen indeed."
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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Jay-Emm
Shipmate
# 11411
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Posted
Well done Slackbladder and Autenreith Road.
Be interested to hear your perspective and when you met up (and which is the traitor and which the pure mafia). What you think ought to have given you away, etc...
Excellent hosting, Eliab.
Amazed at the detail you put in, especially as I realised I couldn't stay in character (or comprehensible or within bounds*) for 2 posts.
*not that it mattered as I was always barking up the wrong tree.**
**Though could I ignore the fact it was based on faulty logic and pretend my posts on the 20th*** was nearer the mark.
***Ohhh, on the 18th both of you talk about the missing traitor, I wonder if we all missed you trying to find each other.
Posts: 1643 | Registered: May 2006
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
I am the original Conspirator. Captain Slackbladder, the Traitor, finally met up with me last night at one minute past midnight, as I was walking away from Batty's Bar.
I would like to know what led the gallant Captain to investigate me last night, rather than Sergeant Bournemouth or Monsieur Lalonde.
Nurse Rhoda Autenrieth checked the back of the medicine cabinet. Yes, her small pot of contact poison was still there, marked "Cod's Liver Oil." No-one in their right mind would go near it. She must be sure to take it with her when moved to her next assignment. Who knew when another Allied push would need to be foiled again?
[ 03. February 2011, 20:50: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
"Ah, yes," a voice could be heard in the wind. "It is the leetle girls one always has to watch...."
(Brilliantly played, AR, against difficult odds).
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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The Great Gumby
Ship's Brain Surgeon
# 10989
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Posted
Sorry to be so late to the party, Nurse Rhoda. I was happily investigating people as suspicions arose, but then out of the blue Agnes got herself lynched, and I had to adapt my strategy to give myself the best chance of actually finding the one remaining conspirator before he/she was discovered.
At that point, I had a strong suspicion (along with everyone else) that the conspirator would be found among the 3 who voted for Harry, and assuming that everyone else would reach the same conclusion, I wanted to get in first with my suspicions and try to direct the voting until I could investigate them all. I'd already found leonato to be innocent, so the night after Agnes got lynched, I investigated Eliza, and then I had two people I'd have been happy to lynch the next day. When Battista had nominated Eliza, I nominated leonato in the hope of forestalling any additional nominations from elsewhere. I actually hoped and expected Battista's arguments to carry the day, but I could hardly argue against my own nomination, so I ended up attracting more attention than I'd intended.
The next night, I investigated Marley, and again came up blank, which was intriguing, but it was still clear that either Eliza or Marley would get the chop and the conspirator couldn't kill anyone the next night (including me by accident), so I had time on my side. But then it got tricky, because the one big clue I'd had (Agnes's lynching) was now useless. So I went for Battista, because I'd had a hunch about her before Agnes's lynching, and thought that if someone was ruthless enough to vote for a fellow conspirator, they might as well have nominated her as well. Got that one wrong as well.
Then, with Marley's lynching, it was down to 4, so I tried to indicate my role in a fairly IC sort of way in the hope of avoiding any friendly fire (I hoped that the conspirator would have avoided killing last night, in the knowledge that there was an effective victory as long as I didn't get bumped off by mistake), and hoping for some sort of signal to let me know who to investigate for the win.
I didn't get any response, so I went for Nurse Rhoda, whose quiet rationality early on, moving to more aggressive tactical moves, struck me as more likely conspirator material than Harry. Did you have any idea that I was the traitor, or was it sheer luck that I stayed out of trouble?
It's also amusing to note how many of my early comments, with no knowledge at all behind them, proved uncannily accurate. Better than my attempts to find the conspirators, anyway. I was probably a bit careless when Hodge was lynched, as I knew she was innocent, and couldn't resist washing my hands of it before her role was revealed. The comment was largely based on the sheer numbers voting for her, but it was still something I feared might come back to bite me. To me, it looked suspicious, even if it wasn't.
Thanks to Eliab for a great game. I enjoyed it immensely, especially playing from such a different angle. There's a real double agent quality to the traitor that you don't get as a vanilla conspirator.
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The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. - Richard Feynman
A letter to my son about death
Posts: 5382 | From: Home for shot clergy spouses | Registered: Feb 2006
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
I thought Harry was the traitor. It hadn't occurred to me that Slackbladder might have already investigated the spare-Agnes gang, and that was what allowed him to argue so forcefully for lynching them. (I.e. without fearing he would hit a conspirator.)
I had sent in my murder request for last night before I saw Slackbladder's post. And even when I did see it, I didn't suss out what it might mean until after I found out from Eliab that Slackbladder was the traitor and we had won.
I had determined in advance that when I could kill again, I would kill Battista, because his nomination of Agnes made him appear innocent, as I had argued. When it came down to a showdown on the last day with three of us, I didn't want an apparent innocent muddying up the works.
I was very grateful that several people voted for Harry instead of Agnes, since that gave several people to easily lynch while I was waiting for my murderous abilities to return. Also it gave several rounds before the innocents realized that a deceptive strategy had been used against them.
I considered, as we headed into the final night, declaring myself to be the Conspirator and appealing for the Traitor to identify himself. But I decided against that, because it was possible that an Innocent would claim to be the Traitor, hoping that I would then kill the Traitor by accident.
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
AR, I only suspected you ONCE during the entire game, and that was after Agnes had been lynched and you put in a friendly little comment directly to her.
Gumby on the other hand, I did not trust right from the beginning, but he rarely seemed to come up for nomination....obviously slackness is a greatly underestimated survival skill in this game!
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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Adam.
Like as the
# 4991
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Posted
A very interesting game, even though I didn't have a clue what was going on for most of it! Thanks, gang.
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Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
Preaching blog
Posts: 8164 | From: Notre Dame, IN | Registered: Sep 2003
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Banner Lady:
AR, I only suspected you ONCE during the entire game, and that was after Agnes had been lynched and you put in a friendly little comment directly to her.
I did? Where?
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
Sorry, that was Cuppa T after the lynching of Agnes, but you were the one who suggested she was probably having an attack of Real Life; and it did make me wonder, albeit momentarily, if you and Cuppa T were the two we wanted.
After all, the female is usually the deadly one in most species...right? ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
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Posted
Father looked down from above; all secrets had been revealed, no mysteries remained hidden.
This wasn't how it should have ended, but, as he also knew, things weren't over yet. From the viewpoint of eternity, a momentary triumph of evil and deceit was of no consequence; in the end, justice would be done, and the right order of things would be restored. Perhaps another day, in another place, the righteous would show their strength and the wicked would, even in this changeable and fallen world, perish.
It's a different experience following the game from Above, rather than wondering if you're going to get knocked off during the night; suddenly, all the strategy and dialogue you'd half-thought up has to go Out The Window. Still, the whole "mystery novel" quality really comes out when you're the first to go—it's one of many reasons why I have more fun playing with characterization than much of anything else in this game.
Alright. We've had two games in a row now; much as I'd like to host the next one, I'm willing to give it a rest for a spell. If not, though . . . well, I have a couple ideas—and this time, you can't kill me! ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
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“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
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Adam.
Like as the
# 4991
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Posted
I'm happy to be contradicted by the Circus hosts, but I don't necessarily see a need for a rest. The sign-up period gives a week or two's rest anyway and most of us have been resting in our graves for quite a while.
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Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
Preaching blog
Posts: 8164 | From: Notre Dame, IN | Registered: Sep 2003
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
Yes, I agree. A number of shippies seem to enjoy reading the unfolding skull-duggery, and by the end would be keen to join a new game.
It is always fascinating to see what mix of writers, analysts, statisticians, amateur sleuths and egomaniacs we get.
Besides, the one running it can always bump off one of us serial Mafia addicts first, rather than an imaginary character, if they want .
And Eliab: ![[Overused]](graemlins/notworthy.gif)
[ 04. February 2011, 05:50: Message edited by: Banner Lady ]
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
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Posted
Well then!
Once the analysis of this round is over, it may be time to set off for distant lands again.
Very distant lands, though . . .
![[Snigger]](graemlins/snigger.gif)
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“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
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Sylvander
Shipmate
# 12857
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Posted
Yet another win for the baddies!
I never had a clue or suspicion while alive and even less later, when I was reading with less attention admittedly. One could probably find out a lot by re-reading and analysing past Mafia threads with benefit of hindsight. But who'd have the time?
Thanks a lot to you, Eliab for your work and dedication as host. And congrats to Nurse Rhoda for hiding so well. Game must be hard for the traitor who has to avoid so many potentially fateful mistakes. Handshake to TGG, too.
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A martyr is someone living with a saint.
2509
Posts: 1589 | From: Berlin | Registered: Jul 2007
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The Great Gumby
Ship's Brain Surgeon
# 10989
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
I had sent in my murder request for last night before I saw Slackbladder's post. And even when I did see it, I didn't suss out what it might mean until after I found out from Eliab that Slackbladder was the traitor and we had won.
I thought that might have been the case, thanks to the few hours between night falling and my post, but I couldn't risk a declaration while the vote was live. Even though I wasn't suspected, Harry was, and I couldn't be certain he was innocent. If he was the conspirator, casting my vote for Marley and declaring my role would likely have been a death sentence for him, and we'd have lost. I did think about holding my vote so that I could decide the vote and declare at the same time, but that seemed a little unsporting.
quote:
I considered, as we headed into the final night, declaring myself to be the Conspirator and appealing for the Traitor to identify himself. But I decided against that, because it was possible that an Innocent would claim to be the Traitor, hoping that I would then kill the Traitor by accident.
I was a little surprised that you didn't elect not to kill, seeing that the allies had lost their majority. From that point, the only realistic scenario that resulted in an allied win was you bumping me off by accident.
quote:
Originally posted by Banner Lady:
Gumby on the other hand, I did not trust right from the beginning, but he rarely seemed to come up for nomination....obviously slackness is a greatly underestimated survival skill in this game!
Ha! In fact, I was nominated once, on day 1, a move which I very effectively quashed by the daring strategy of turning up. I thought I was going to have to fight off a challenge once we were down to 5, but after Nurse Rhoda had made the obligatory nomination of Marley, Marley then helpfully nominated Harry in turn, and I felt confident that any further nomination could be used to raise suspicion of the nominator, for trying to split the vote.
That's the interesting thing - actions can be entirely correct and sensible, but look suspicious, which often seems to lead to irrational strategies early on, and I think is generally very unhelpful to the Villager/Allied faction. Of course, my scumdar's clearly shocking, as it took me 7 goes to get it right, but ISTM that there are some things that raise suspicion which probably shouldn't. I was interested/amused to note that not only was I correct that none of those nominating on Day 1 were conspirators, I was also (with the exception of myself, which I obviously knew about) correct that none of the nominees were conspirators.
Ariston, I was thinking of running a game of Cluedo at some point to do something a bit different, but if you have everything ready for a new run of Mafia, be my guest.
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The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. - Richard Feynman
A letter to my son about death
Posts: 5382 | From: Home for shot clergy spouses | Registered: Feb 2006
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Jay-Emm
Shipmate
# 11411
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Posted
Mid game, I had a play with a crude blind-idiot-villager mafia simulator.
It came up with some vaguely interesting observations.
It basicly used recursion to find the 'probability' of the mafia winning a game, with different functions for the lynching phase.
It was in python (I can PM it if you want to laugh)
The first interesting thing was that half the time adding a villager increased the odds slightly, as it meant there were more chance of killing an innocents, and it ended the same turn.
The other half of the time it brought the odds down as the villagers had an extra turn, but rather slowly.
The second was that random lynching did better than either model with mafia influence. As mafia influence was a basterdised modification of random chance anyway*, this was not surprising, and would make a dull game.
But for moderate games it even beat the version where the host selected a mafia and innocent and then the population voted (and then forgot).
It also made me wonder how a game where the mafia were not aware they were the mafia (i.e. the host did their night action) would play?
*the innocents being blind and idiotic are presumed to lynch at random.
Posts: 1643 | Registered: May 2006
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la vie en rouge
Parisienne
# 10688
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Posted
The ghost has been working ceaselessly at trying to move physical objects in the real world and is most pleased with her progress. She hovers over the telegraph machine to see if she can tap it…
DAMMIT STOP I SUSPECTED FROM DAY ONE THAT SHE WASNT A REAL NURSE AND WAS USING IT AS A COVER STOP BUT I NEVER SAID SO STOP AND I WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG STOP BUGGER STOP
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Rent my holiday home in the South of France
Posts: 3696 | Registered: Nov 2005
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Eliab
Shipmate
# 9153
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Posted
Thank you all for playing so well, and producing characters that I was genuinely sorry to see killed. Special thanks to TGG for agreeing to take on the vacant role of Traitor. The game wouldn't have been the same without it.
On the strategic side, I spotted only one mistake by the conspirators: Rhoda said at one point that she hadn't considered whether Cnl. Sylvain could be a traitor, but she had in fact, expressly done just that on the previous page. But shortly afterwards, she was so effective in lynching Agnes (persuading Harry that 'no lynching' would have been a mistake) that if I'd been playing it would have removed all suspicion from my mind. I wasn't convinced by the decision to kill Lt. Burt - but I can't really knock it because it worked.
I think you could have got her though - when Sylvain was killed. As it was fairly obvious that the fanatic had investigated and cleared him, he was the odds-on favorite for assassination, and the tactical point of the Special Brigade expert's gas attack was that you didn't have to guess at the identity of the assassin - guessing the victim would have done just as well. I think there was a missed chance to gas Sylvain and take his killer down at the same time.
Am I right in thinking that Harry was planning to hold the gas attack for the end-game, where the odds would have been better? If so, having been accused, and strongly hinted at having an offensive innocent role, I can see that he must have feared murder, and that gassing Hearte was a sensible "use it or lose it" employment of a one-shot special.
I have to say that I liked the 'secondary role' idea of a special power not correlated with guilt or innocence. It gave most of you something a bit different, without giving the Allies the option of using role claims to establish loyalty. I would have liked to see the Nurse "save" someone, for a potentially informative death scene, but it wasn't to be.
I really enjoyed running it, and you were a fantastic set of players.
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"Perhaps there is poetic beauty in the abstract ideas of justice or fairness, but I doubt if many lawyers are moved by it"
Richard Dawkins
Posts: 4619 | From: Hampton, Middlesex, UK | Registered: Mar 2005
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The Great Gumby:
I was a little surprised that you didn't elect not to kill, seeing that the allies had lost their majority. From that point, the only realistic scenario that resulted in an allied win was you bumping me off by accident.
Not killing occurred very briefly to me, but not long enough for me to sort through the numerical implications.
quote:
Originally posted by Eliab:
On the strategic side, I spotted only one mistake by the conspirators: Rhoda said at one point that she hadn't considered whether Cnl. Sylvain could be a traitor, but she had in fact, expressly done just that on the previous page.
I had truly forgotten that I'd considered him previously.
quote:
But shortly afterwards, she was so effective in lynching Agnes (persuading Harry that 'no lynching' would have been a mistake) that if I'd been playing it would have removed all suspicion from my mind.
![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif)
I think that just about everything I said was true, in terms of being reasonable analysis. (Even if sometimes I knew it was also just plain wrong, e.g. suggesting that the early nominators/nominees, or the voters to spare Agnes, concealed Conspirators.) Of course there was a great deal I didn't say: any reasoning that could cast suspicions on my own activities, had to be ruthlessly surpressed.
quote:
I wasn't convinced by the decision to kill Lt. Burt - but I can't really knock it because it worked.
I didn't want to get to the end game with anyone who could plausibly declare innocence. I know that the secondary role could have been held by a Conspirator, but the way Burt announced his role had (to me at least) a patent air of innocence. That also meant lynching Burt was unlikely to succeed, so I'd have to bite the bullet at some point and kill him at night.
Does anyone know where Hennah is? She has not been in touch since a few game-nights before she was lynched. I've been concerned.
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
Yes, and I hope Amorya is okay too.
Joining in one of these games IS a huge commitment, but I thought the pace Eliab ran it at worked okay. Each day took a week in real time, and gave most of us a chance to keep up with it.
Even with a house full of people over January, I was able to say 'Scuse me, just need to check if I'm still alive!' They all got quite interested vicariously via my Mafia game reporting to them.
And it did amaze me how long Battista lasted. I think we could hand out awards at the end of each game.
Most amusing character award: Imaginary Friend's potty mouthed Harry often made me laugh.
Sneakiest villain award: definitely AR.
Fallen star award: Sylvander's love lorn Colonel Sylvain advancing and retreating (just like the French!)
Late bloomer award: Ariston 's Father Didier, who was hard to believe in the first few posts, but I really came to enjoy his ghostly observations as the game went on.
Best fictional character award: Eliab, for Major Daute, who I actually came to believe was really there with us all. I now have a picture of him enjoying the Veuve Clicquot in the staff car on the way to his last fatal meeting. It was good writing, Eliab, so he deserved a good vintage.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Feel free to add your own awards.
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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An die Freude
Shipmate
# 14794
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Posted
It was my first game, and I'd say lack of experience is what got me at the end of the day; that, and some plain stupidity at least. First off, I acted too much in character in nominating Dafyd. I didn't even think of being seen as a splitter, since there was already five nominees - what good would a sixth one do? Then, I took Sylvander for a better player than he is and followed his advice and left a clear and simple message on who I had investigated (no real doubt about that one, right?). Of course it wasn't worth risking discovery at the time just for saving an innocent for one more night or so. Third, I didn't come out in the open after Sylvander disclosed me - something the nurse missed out on. Of course, coming out wouldn't have done much good at that time, why should the nurse trust me? Still, it might have gotten me just a little protection for the night.
I played poorly, and I'm sorry to my team for it.
But La Vie En Rouge, I'm curious: how come you even risked suspicion of coming out as a fanatic so early in the game? It made me extremely suspicious of you as trying to reveal possible "true fanatics". Again, might be due to lack of experience on my side. I just got very suspicious of everyone, and I probably do lack a bit of strategic training in what strategies are most commonly used in this game.
Great hosting, Eliab.
In case you don't mind a somewhat unexperienced and proven rather weak player, I'd be glad to play another round.
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"I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable."
Walt Whitman
Formerly JFH
Posts: 851 | From: Proud Socialist Monarchy of Sweden | Registered: May 2009
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Imaginary Friend
Real to you
# 186
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Eliab:
Am I right in thinking that Harry was planning to hold the gas attack for the end-game, where the odds would have been better? If so, having been accused, and strongly hinted at having an offensive innocent role, I can see that he must have feared murder, and that gassing Hearte was a sensible "use it or lose it" employment of a one-shot special.
That was exactly my thinking, yes.
I have a question regarding another game. I felt that this time I was not able to really give it my full attention, and therefore could not keep up with all the twists and turns and I didn't have much to contribute when it came to sorting out who to vote for. So my question is whether it's worth me playing another game, or if it makes the quality better not to have part-timers like myself clogging things up?
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"We had a good team on paper. Unfortunately, the game was played on grass."
Brian Clough
Posts: 9455 | From: Left a bit... Right a bit... | Registered: May 2001
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
I am most impressed by and grateful for Eliab's extraordinarily creative (and educational) moderation. Wow.
Thanks as always to the Circus Hosts for reading all of our machinations.
Imaginary Friend, I always feel that the more, the merrier.
JFH, I'm not sure there is any one strategy or set of strategies people play. The baddies in the last game played very differently from the baddies in this game ( ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif) ). The innocents mostly seem to try to analyze how they think a baddie might act, perhaps allowing for bluffing of odd or even parity, and then mostly miss the mark.
I do think it's fatal to drop hints that one is the Fanatic. At least when I'm Mafia, that is a pretty quick death sentence for the Fanatic. It seems it's better for the Fanatic to leave a trail of only speaking in support of people they've cleared (or against people they have discovered to be Mafia), but to justify it in terms of the person's postings. This will give at least one voice in favour of correct (or at least, not obviously incorrect) votes. And, if/when the Fanatic is bumped off, the survivors can reread what the Fanatic has said and re-interpret it as being fact, not merely suspicion. I could also see that the Fanatic in the later part of the game might reveal him/herself: sometimes it might be better to reveal oneself, and convince everyone of the status of the several investigated people, even at the cost of being murdered almost immediately.
[ 04. February 2011, 19:48: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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la vie en rouge
Parisienne
# 10688
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Posted
I had one major problem - I was the only person absolutely certain to die if hit. I was hoping to look a little bit suspiscious, so that the mob would let me live longer. In my position, it seemed to me the only way to operate was by being talkative. Unfortunately I ended up looking very suspiscious and cut my life expectancy short anyway (although as I said, I was having a nasty attack of real life at the time so it was probably no bad thing that I was removed from play).
I am ticked at myself, tho, for not airing my suspicions about why AR had made herself a nurse (I had thought about making my own character a nurse as a double bluff then got there and found the role taken). Oh well.
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Rent my holiday home in the South of France
Posts: 3696 | Registered: Nov 2005
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
No nefarious intent in my nurse-ness. I had decided to be Nurse Rhoda Autenrieth from the very start, before we got our assignments. It was only after Eliab laid out the roles that I realized there was a potential for confusion with the role Nurse. I tried to address that in my post introducing myself. Wasn't thinking clearly enough to think of simply taking a different persona.
I didn't think of it as a bluff at all. And, we could certainly have had several persona nurses, none of whom made ant claim to be The Nurse. Miss Eliza Bradshaw, fir example, also took on the title of nurse, without laying any claim to being The Nurse.
[ 04. February 2011, 22:33: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
"any" and "for", not "ant" and "fir".
Preview Post is my friend, but my eyes, apparently, are not.
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Adam.
Like as the
# 4991
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The Great Gumby:
Ariston, I was thinking of running a game of Cluedo at some point to do something a bit different, but if you have everything ready for a new run of Mafia, be my guest.
That would also be interesting. A kind of break without really taking much of a break, kind of thing (if you see what I mean).
As for "part-time players," I'm also of the more-the-merrier school. As long as people can log on and take their actions in a reasonably timely manner, not everyone has to have done pages of analysis. And you need a good number of people to get interesting roles to work I think.
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Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
Preaching blog
Posts: 8164 | From: Notre Dame, IN | Registered: Sep 2003
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Adam.
Like as the
# 4991
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Hart:
quote:
Originally posted by The Great Gumby:
Ariston, I was thinking of running a game of Cluedo at some point to do something a bit different, but if you have everything ready for a new run of Mafia, be my guest.
That would also be interesting. A kind of break without really taking much of a break, kind of thing (if you see what I mean).
Oops. Just saw Ariston's thread. Another time!
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Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
Preaching blog
Posts: 8164 | From: Notre Dame, IN | Registered: Sep 2003
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CuppaT
Shipmate
# 10523
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Posted
I had fun, so thank you all. My suspicions came to be with Battista and AR. I was most sure that Battista was Mafia! Slackbladdar went completely beneath my radar.
I misunderstood what would happen if I as the aviator got killed, and I realize I should not have declared my role. I thought that my killer would be silenced, and by his absence for 48 game "hours" the rest would have a clue as to who was Mafia, also no one else would get killed. This threat would keep anyone from killing me.
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Stand at the brink of the abyss of despair, and when you see that you cannot bear it any longer, draw back a little and have a cup of tea.
~Elder Sophrony
Posts: 919 | From: the edge of the Ozarks | Registered: Oct 2005
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
I also found it difficult to grasp what practical use came via some of the extra role functions. But perhaps that is because they were new to us and players were unsure of how to go about exercising those functions. I was grateful mine was a simple role.
When I first saw the role outlines I thought they might make for a few more switchbacks in the game. I'm not sure that happened, though.
Eliab, do you think players did justice to the possibilities you gave them?
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
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Posted
Personally, I would have liked the artillery specialist to have gotten a chance to show their mettle; sadly, that role was given to me, and, um . . .
I remember trying to figure out (before I was killed) how to play that one—trying to figure out who asked questions of you during the night, then letting people know as best you can that someone's just a tad important, pay attention . . .
Well, it would have been tricky. Perhaps next game we'll get to see how it works.
Speaking of "next game:" I know some people have already signed up, others are planning on it, but our departure date is nearing—the Ariston will be departing shortly after 14 February, so boarding sooner rather than later is encouraged!
See you lot there.
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“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
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Eliab
Shipmate
# 9153
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quote:
Originally posted by Banner Lady:
I also found it difficult to grasp what practical use came via some of the extra role functions. But perhaps that is because they were new to us and players were unsure of how to go about exercising those functions. I was grateful mine was a simple role.
When I first saw the role outlines I thought they might make for a few more switchbacks in the game. I'm not sure that happened, though.
Eliab, do you think players did justice to the possibilities you gave them?
It worked pretty much as I'd intended. The idea was to give the majority of the players something a bit different, which clearly meant that the roles had to be a lot weaker than the Doctor or Detective in the standard game - otherwise the innocents would win by weight of metal, rather than by analysis.
Use of the roles: JFH's hindsight (that it was not worth hinting at the fanatic's role to clear one innocent) is right, but in fact made little or no difference because the conspirators were on his case before that: AR's PM at the time informed me that they would have taken him out on the first night, only they thought it more sporting to waste someone who'd had a long and successful game last time around.
Sylvain, as Sapper, never deployed his bomb (although he thought about targetting Lavinia at one point), and if he'd tried to he would have found that the Conspirator's MP was blocking him.
As mentioned above, I thought Harry missed a chance to play spot-the-victim with his gas attack, but I also think it was possible to deduce his innocence from the attack on Hearte, because I can't see why a conspirator would have blown a one-shot kill at that point except as a deception move (and the ability is worth more to them in the end-game).
Burt obviously got use out of the aviator's special, and the rest of them were mostly passive abilities.
On balance, the influence on the game was about right. They were never meant to be powerful enough that the innocents could win by deploying their special abilities well.
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"Perhaps there is poetic beauty in the abstract ideas of justice or fairness, but I doubt if many lawyers are moved by it"
Richard Dawkins
Posts: 4619 | From: Hampton, Middlesex, UK | Registered: Mar 2005
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Eliab
Shipmate
# 9153
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Posted
Time for an epilogue, I think, before boarding the Ariston for distant worlds. Although don't let this deter anyone who still has something to add here.
DAY 34280 - "Better Times"
History's verdict on General Sir Herbert Zurcon has been kinder than it was on most of the generals of the Great War. Certainly Sir Herbert possessed enormous physical courage, as indifferent to danger as he apparently was in surveying in person the ground over which he proposed to attack, and he was a keen enthusiast for the new military technologies which arose during the conflict, but he was scarcely unique in either quality, and he was only one of nearly eighty British generals who died in the course of the war.
It is, perhaps, speculation about the much-debated "missing plans" for the Flanders offensive that forms the basis of the General's stellar reputation. The offensive, of course, went ahead without the benefit of his scheme - opening with the massive detonation of mines under the German defences around Messines, the capture of the ridge in June, and the exploitation, albeit delayed, of that success in a series of advances over approximately five miles and lasting into November 1917, before the battle closed with the British in possession of all the relatively high ground which had threatened the Ypres salient. The most conservative estimate of the cost stands at about half a million missing, dead, and wounded on all sides, at least a third of whom were killed. Every inch of ground taken in the campaign was to be lost to the German offensive in the Spring of 1918, and there is, perhaps, no battle that stands more for the bloody futility of war than that of Paschendaele. Against that background, the question of what difference the redoubtable General Zurcon might have made is a tantalising one, and there has been much speculation about how his brilliance might have produced the decisive breakthrough to end the war.
Only in February 2011, after the deaths of the last of the late Dame Rhoda Autenrieth's children, did her eldest granddaughter, Verity Autenrieth-Vine, OM, Permanent Secretary of the Home Office and published historian, open Dame Rhoda's private papers to the nation. These revealed for the first time her role in the General's murder, and included a stolen draft of Sir Herbert's plans for a massive assault with tanks at the weakest sections of the German line, requiring at least 200 machines.
It is with some trepidation, given the General's reputation, that historians were forced to conclude that the plan as conceived would have been disastrous. The ground to the east of Ypres is reclaimed marshland, and the remnants of the drainage system were annihilated by artillery at the start of the campaign, turning the salient into even more of a quagmire than it had been. Tanks proved almost useless in the opening stages of the battle - only later, in the fight for the slightly higher and less-heavily shelled hills, did they have a significant effect on the fighting. Sir Herbert's plan would almost certainly have squandered this resource on the first day, and led to an even slower, bloodier and less certain campaign than in fact transpired.
It must be concluded that the murderers of General Zurcon, whatever their intentions, played a significant role in shortening the First World War, and contributed to the eventual Allied victory.
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"Perhaps there is poetic beauty in the abstract ideas of justice or fairness, but I doubt if many lawyers are moved by it"
Richard Dawkins
Posts: 4619 | From: Hampton, Middlesex, UK | Registered: Mar 2005
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